Thanks
by Amarante Akio
Summary: Riku and Sora have been through a lot in the last couple of years, now they'll have to face the hardest adventure yet...


Hola everyone! I was dared to write a Riku Sora pairing so here is the result! I hope you all enjoy, I apologize ahead of time for an OOCness! As always in my stories _italicized _means flashback. Have at it then!

Disclaimer: Please, you guys know I could never afford to buy out Disney AND Square Enix! But just in case: I don't own anything!

**Thanks**

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"_Hey Riku wait up!"_

"_Riku there's no way I'm letting you go at this alone, I'm coming too!" _

"_Riku I want you to know that no matter what happens you'll always be my best friend… so promise you'll never leave me ok? You're in this for life, so no running off again got it?"_

A beeping sound in the background slowly got louder until the young teen felt like his ears were going to burst. The teen sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of whatever was disrupting his moment.

'Oh its just the alarm clock,' he moaned reaching over and turning it off. He laid back down and pulled his covers over his head, trying to regain the lost warmth. For a few seconds he vacantly stared at the ceiling, trying to remember why he'd set his alarm in the first place.

Three years had past since he'd be pulled out of darkness and been able to help in the defeat of Organization 13. For a while everyone thought their must have been some kind of catch, a plan b, that it couldn't be the end of the enemies they had been fighting for the past few years. But after a year of not so much as a peep of darkness anywhere, everyone let their guard down. They stayed up late, slept in, and didn't worry about always having to look behind them every step they took.

'If I haven't set an alarm in two damn years then why the hell did I set one today?'

He looked around until his eyes rested on a hung up black suit in his open closet. He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing he'd never seen it in the first place.

"Today's Sora and Kairi's…wedding." He hated the way the words sounded coming out of his mouth, he hated that the words could even form a intelligent sentence, but most of all he hated the reality that those words represented.

After they were able to relax things went somewhat back to the way they used to be. Riku, Sora, and Kairi went back to living on the main island with their parents, had regular visits from Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey, and started going to school again. Despite all the time they'd missed, they were able to make up their school work during summer vacation and went on a regular basis together until they graduated less than a year ago. Riku was worried that Kairi, his parents, and most importantly Sora would never be able to accept him back after everything he'd done, but surprisingly they did, it soon became as if his betrayal to the darkness was a distant dream instead of a couple year ordeal.

Riku became used to this routine, he got used to spending so much time with his best friend. He was on top of the world, and thought life couldn't get any better. He was so busy enjoying his own contentment that he didn't see how close Sora and Kairi had become, until…

"_Is everyone here?" Kairi asked looking around nervously._

_Riku rolled his eyes with a smile, "Think so, can we get on with this?" he asked with fake annoyance, "I just barely graduated a week ago and now your cutting into my summer with an 'assembly'?" _

_Kairi smiled back and nodded, "Sorry to keep you waiting guys this is pretty important." After a couple of minutes of looking around her living room she seemed satisfied with who was in the room and shut the door._

_Riku finally looked around and saw who was in the cramped room with him: Donald, Goofy, the King, Leon, Cloud, Aerith, friends from high school who the three hadn't lost contact with, and Kairi and Sora's parents. Riku's eyes stopped on Sora. He hadn't left Kairi's side since he'd arrived and seemed to have a permanent smile etched in on his perfect features. His blue eyes traced the waves in Sora's chestnut hair, his expressive sapphire eyes, his beautiful pale skin that looked more like an angels then a 18 year old boys, and finally his half lidded eyes rested on Sora's tender, full lips. They were slightly parted and Riku couldn't help but wonder how they would feel, gently pressed against his own… He shook his head and looked away. 'Focus Riku, focus!' he thought angrily, trying to imagine anything else besides his best friend._

"_Ok I think everyone's here. I dragged you all here because I-well Sora and I- have an important announcement to make," Kairi started, trying to contain the large smile on her face._

'_Sora and I? Why would they be making an announcement together?'_

"_Would you just tell us already!" Donald impatiently yelled. Everyone excluding Riku laughed at the ducks impatience._

"_Sorry Donald-well I'm not sure if any of you noticed but I'm wearing gloves today."_

_To be honest Riku hadn't but refused to look in her direction knowing Sora wouldn't be far away._

"_Well there's a reason for that, its because I wanted what's under the gloves to be a surprise," she said smiling. _

_Riku couldn't help but look at his red haired friend now in confusion. 'Under the gloves? What would she be hiding under a glo-' Everything hit Riku at once, he suddenly realized why so many different people were all gathered in one place. His worst fears were confirmed when Kairi pulled off the glove from her left hand revealing…a diamond ring._

"_We're getting married!"_

Even though he hadn't heard those words in over a year they still stung just as bad if not worse. He could still remember how the room sounded with loud cheers, screams, and congratulations with Sora and Kairi's huge smiles eagerly soaking up the moment. As he closed his eyes he could feel himself back in her living room, the way his heart felt like it was breaking in two.

For the months following all Sora could talk about was the wedding. Where it should be held, the date, what everyone would wear, what kind of cake it would be and so much more. As the brunette rambled on excitedly he had no idea of the effects it was having on his best friend. Riku grew quiet and reclusive, the only person who could ever manage to drag him out of bed was Sora.

He wanted to hate Sora for all the pain he'd put him through, and vowed so many times to leave the island. But then Sora would walk in with that warm smile, and Riku would melt under his sapphire eyes, agreeing to whatever Sora wanted of him, not caring that he didn't return his feelings and just enjoying any time he had with him. As the wedding grew closer Riku felt their distant growing. Sora didn't have time to race him, spar with him or lay on the beach anymore. He was going to be married soon and involuntarily put Riku on the back burner.

A knock on his door startled him and he contemplated whether to even answer it. He figured after ten knocks the stranger would give up and go away but he didn't. With a sigh Riku pulled himself out of his warm covers and slowly walked out of his room towards the door.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" he lazily shouted, taking his time unlocking it.

"Damn you got me up now what-" Riku stopped in mid sentence when he saw who was standing behind his door.

"Hey buddy, what took ya so long? Didn't set an alarm did you?" Sora asked shaking his head with a smile, "Some friend you are, not even ready for the most important day of my life."

For a second Riku forgot how to breath, Sora just looked so perfect in his eyes; in his black suit, with the sun in the back ground hitting his hair just right to make his entire being sparkle.

"Uh sorry I um lost track on time," he replied once he was able to form words.

Sora laughed, "That's such a Riku answer, you'll never change," he said, walking around him to get inside, and plopping on the end of his bed.

"I wouldn't even be here so early if it wasn't for Kairi, she's like 'Tell Riku if he thinks he's gonna be late for MY wedding, I'll cut all his pretty blonde bangs off! And he'll have to actually look at people instead of hiding behind those curtains he calls hair!'" Sora mocked in a high pitched voice that sounded nothing like Kairi's.

Sora stared at him expectantly until Riku forced a smile and laugh, "Well don't worry I wouldn't be late. Actually having to look at people is enough encouragement," Riku said hoping to pacify the brunette. Sora didn't laugh this time and just stared, his eyes penetrating, as if he was looking in his very soul.

"Are you feeling ok? You've been acting so strange lately."

Riku's face paled and he turned around, trying to seem busy collecting his things. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"I think I know what this is about."

Riku froze. 'He doesn't know! He couldn't know!' His true feelings towards Sora was his best kept secret, he fought hard to make sure that he never suspected a thing, knowing it was better that way. He searched his mind and tried to think of a time when his eyes had lingered to long, he hadn't pulled away from a friendly hug soon enough, or when he'd slipped up and said something too incriminating.

'Dammit! What gave me away?!'

"I didn't think about how this wedding would affect you! I just kept rambling on about it and-oh Riku I'm so sorry. If I'd known-"

His eyes were full of panic and he tried to think of something to say, 'Crap he does know! What now?'

"This must be so awkward for you, to see your two best friends getting married-" Sora continued to blather on with apologizes but Riku stopped listening. He knew he should have been relieved that his secret was safe another day but…he wasn't. Part of him was sick of the lies, the cover ups, sick of pretending to like Sora and Kairi's relationship when Riku knew he would be a much better match up.

"Sora…its much more than that." The words slipped out before Riku could stop them, and, to be honest, he didn't want to hide them anymore.

Sora's eyebrows bunched together in confusion, "Well then what is it?" After Riku didn't respond Sora added, "You know you can tell me anything, please Riku maybe I can help," he pleaded with begging eyes. Riku couldn't refuse Sora of anything and with a sigh he came over and sat next to his best friend.

"Are you sure you wanna know?" he asked, looking into his eyes. Sora smiled and nodded, reaching forward to grab Riku's hand and caress it slightly in a friendly way. Riku tried to ignore the feelings Sora was unconsciously causing; he threw caution out the window, leaned forward and kissed him.

Sora's lips were the softest thing Riku had ever felt, and he couldn't get enough. Years of wanting and frustration all exploded into one amazing kiss. Sora took his breath away but he didn't pull away, he put his hands on both sides of Sora's face, to get a better angle. Riku desperately wanted to deepen the kiss but knew he had to explain himself and pulled away. He rested his forehead against Sora's and for a couple of minutes just stared into the brunettes eyes, trying to catch his breath. He leaned forward and gave him another quick kiss before pulling the younger boy into his arms.

"Sora I'm so in love with you," he whispered into his ear, running his fingers through his hair.

"Riku…I love you too," Sora answered, his voice barely above a whisper himself.

Riku smiled and tightened his grip, burying his face into his neck. 'This whole time, he's loved me too. If I would of told him sooner we could have been together years ago. Oh well, we both know now that's what matters,' he thought giving him a kiss on the crock of his neck.

His mind went to their future, they could spend every day like this, in each others arms. In a few minutes Riku would let Sora up to go cancel the wedding, sure Kairi might be mad for a few days but she'd get over it and return to her normal happy self. To be honest, he didn't care what anyone thought of him or how Sora's announcement would affect everyone, as long as Riku had his happiness, he knew the others would eventually find theres.

"But I don't think in the same way you do…" Sora mumbled.

Riku was so wrapped up in his own thoughts and plans that he really wasn't paying attention. "Huh? What'd you say Sora?" Riku asked, loving the way it sounded rolling off his lips.

"When we kissed-"

"Wasn't it amazing? I've been waiting so long to do that," Riku admitted, gently caressing his arm, "I would have done it a lot sooner if I knew you felt the same but-"

"Riku I don't feel the same."

Riku stopped moving and listened.

"I love you Riku, you're my best friend…but I'm in love with Kairi."

Riku froze, "The kiss I mean you didn't-"

"Riku it felt like I was kissing my brother, not a lover."

Riku couldn't move, couldn't breathe for a second and shoved Sora away.

"Riku I-I don't know what to say. I've never felt that way towards you. I'm in love with Kairi, when I kiss her I feel that spark but with you I didn't feel anything."

"Oh," was all Riku could get out. For the next few minutes an awkward silence filled the room. Sora didn't know what to say to make things right again.

"I um I'll understand if you don't wanna be my best man. I'm sure I can find someone else to stand in your place if you want," Sora weakly offered.

Riku shook his head, "No I'll be your best man, if you still want me to be."

Sora smiled, "Oh course I do! Well come on lets get you dressed! We can walk there together!"

"No," he started a little harsher than he meant to, "I mean I'll come in a little bit, I need some time alone," he mumbled, not able to look Sora in the eye.

"Sure, it starts in an hour though so hurry up!"

Riku continued staring at the wall and nodded. He heard footsteps, the door open and close, and then silence.

"_I love you Riku, you're my best friend…but I'm in love with Kairi."_ The words echoed in his head and wouldn't leave. He stood up and walked towards his mirror. He felt so empty, numb, but most of all stupid. 'How could I have thought that someone as perfect as him would ever love someone as screwed up as me?' He looked into the mirror and hated what he saw: messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and uneven skin. He bowed his head and tried to hide the tears forcing themselves out.

"_Riku I-I don't know what to say. I've never felt that way towards you. I'm in love with Kairi, when I kiss her I feel that spark but with you I didn't feel anything."_

For years he'd felt inadequate next to the teen, always jealous of everything Sora had and was capable of, and now felt inadequacy take over once again. Sora would never return his feelings, ever, no matter what Riku said or did he would never be able to make Sora feel the same…

He walked out the door, slamming it behind him. He walked the couple of blocks to the church Sora and Kairi's wedding was being held. People looked at him strangely at him as he walked in, some attempted to talk to him, ask why he was in pajamas instead of his suit. He ignored them all and kept walking towards his destination, the bell tower. He looked over the edge and saw how far up he was. It was more than tall enough to accomplish what he was planning.

Sora's face popped into his head, he was begging Riku to leave the darkness and come back to Destiny Islands. His face popped up again, this time from only a few minutes ago.

"_But I don't think in the same way you do…" _

'All you ever wanted was for me to be there for you as your best friend and I couldn't do it, all I do is disapppoint you.'

He looked over the edge and stepped a foot closer, another step was all it would take to send him over the side

'I'm sick of disappointing you Sora, I'm gonna make sure that I never disappoint you again.'

He took one last look down before closing his eyes. He smiled as he imagined Sora's face, his smile, and the breathtaking kiss they'd shared.

'I love you…' he thought falling forward, ready to end all his pain.

He waited, waited for the rush of the air, the feeling of falling, and most of all the feeling of sweet, sweet death.

But he felt nothing. 'Is this what death's like?'

"Riku! Could you help me out? Your not exactly light buddy!" Sora's voice came.

'Huh?' He finally opened his eyes and looked up to see Sora's face, both arms grabbing his own arms, struggling to hold him up.

"Sora?"

"Your such a klutz! You're lucky I was following you, you got too close to the rim and almost fell in! I had to dirty my suit to slid and catch you! Your so prone to accidents," he said with a laugh, still trying to pull up Riku's limp form.

For a few seconds Riku only vacantly stared into the teens eyes.

"Sora it wasn't an 'accident' that I fell in."

Sora stopped pulling and raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What do you mean it wasn't an accident? If it wasn't then that means-"

Realization washed over the brunette and he stared in shock at his best friend, his grip on Riku slacking a little bit.

"You were trying to kill yourself weren't you?" he asked so low Riku barely heard him.

"Yeah… I was," Riku admitted without shame in the same vacant numb voice.

Sora put his head down for a second and when it came up it was full of unfamiliar anger, "You asshole, how dare you try to kill yourself."

Riku's eyes widen in shock, never through the course of their long friendship had he ever heard a cuss word pass Sora's lips. No matter how angry he got, he never so much as uttered anything even near a curse.

"What gives you the right to kill yourself? Your so selfish, did you think about how it would affect anyone else? How do you think Kairi and I would react? Did you think we'd be happy knowing our best friend is dead?!"

Tears of pure anger began to form and Riku had no idea of what to say. Sora seemed to have gotten a burst of energy and Riku allowed him to pull him up. Both just sat on the edge staring at each other. Riku watched as Sora buried his face into his hands and began to sob.

"This is all-my-fault," Sora said through tears.

"If I could love you then-maybe you wouldn't want-to kill yourself-but-I can't! If I wasn't so weak-then maybe-" Riku watched as he continued to shed tears and say apologizes. For the first time in a long time, Riku looked at Sora, really looked at him. He'd been through so much, he didn't think of how his own death would affect Sora or any one else.

"If I hadn't caught you Riku-I would have had to go-over with you-"

"No you wouldn't have, you wouldn't have left Kairi," Riku sadly mumbled, trying to suppress the guilt he was feeling.

Sora looked up in shock, "You think that-you think that just because I'm not in love with you, I don't care about you? Do you think I could live a single day without you in my life? You're the most important thing in the world to me, if you ever died, I'd be right behind you! You have to know that! Remember the promise we made?"

"_Riku I want you to know that no matter what happens you'll always be my best friend… so promise you'll never leave me ok? You're in this for life, so no running off again got it?"_

"You can't break that just because things got hard! That's wussing out! And that's not the Riku I know! The Riku I know is brave, and would never leave a friend behind! Never!" he insisted, not bothering to wipe his tears away.

Riku stared as his friend a few more seconds before pulling his best friend into his arms for the second time that day. This time was out of pure friendship and for the first time in a long time, unselfishness. He patted his friends back and thought of everything they'd been through, jumping off a building just because he couldn't have him all to himself seemed pretty stupid. He thought of all the people whose lives he would have wrecked if Sora hadn't been following him, he thought of all the adventures they'd gone on, how much effort they'd gone to save Riku from darkness, how pointless it would have seemed. Ten minutes ago, he hadn't given a damn about Kairi's feelings, but how would she feel knowing her best friend and fiancé were dead.

"I'm so sorry Sor, I never-I didn't think about how selfish was and-and I'm so sorry," he whispered, pulling back and wiping away Sora's tears.

"If I'd known that you loved me…I wouldn't have-"

"Shhhh, don't you even think about apologizing, I'm the idiot here."

"Yeah you are aren't ya?" Sora said, laughing. Riku soon joined in and instantly felt better. 'I'll never be his lover and I'll never be good enough for him, but that doesn't mean I can't try to be the best damn best friend he'll ever have…'

Riku did end up going to the wedding as Sora's best man, and even smiled when he kissed her at the end of the ceremony. He attended the reception and wished them the best, genuinely meaning it, knowing that they would be happy together.

Despite Riku's worries nothing in their friendship changed, Sora was a lot busier but still found the time to spend plenty of time with his best friend, never mentioning the events prior to the wedding to anyone.

After a year of growing and many encouragements, Riku took a huge step out and began to date other men. For the first couple of months of dating Riku thought he'd never find anyone, every guy he dated he couldn't help but compare to Sora. Riku thought it was impossible to ever love someone as much as he loved Sora but he was soon proven wrong. After a handsome, black haired, violet eyed teen named Haru moved to the Islands, Riku couldn't stay away. Haru was smart, funny, stubborn, and insanely loyal to his friends, after only a few months of dating, the two found themselves falling for each other. So when after almost two years of dating Haru popped the question, Riku eagerly said yes.

Riku sighed and untied his tie for the billionth time, "Stupid tie. I begged Haru to just let me wear a clip on but noooo he insisted on the real thing, the jerk," Riku mumbled, struggling to fix it. Sora laughed and took tie from his hands, "You've just got pre-wedding jitters, stop freaking out. Besides I'd be worrying more about Kairi's wrath than your tie, she wants to kill you for your bright idea of have your wedding on the beach, shes so jealous," Sora warned laughing, while he successively tied it.

"Kairi's been so moody lately! The other day I asked if shes put on some weight and she practically bit my head off and then practicallt threw up all over me! I swear she acts like she's preg-" Riku stopped in mid sentence upon seeing Sora's guilty face.

"She is isn't she! My best friend is pregnant and nobody could even tell me? You're such a jerk," he said with a smile, punching his shoulder.

"Well Kairi and I thought it'd be better to wait! We didn't wanna crowd in your big day," Sora apologized scratching the back of his head with a smile, "and we were gonna wait until a little later when Haru was there too but well-were hoping you'd both be willing to be his or her god parents."

It was funny how instead of feeling hurt and broken, Riku felt only love and appreciation for the truly amazing teen in front of him.

"What else are friends for?" He hugged Sora one last time before heading out of the tiny shack and up the stairs to the wedding line.

He watched the familiar faces of his friends, all turning around to watch him walk down the aisle. Riku's heart swelled up when he saw Haru's eager smile, his violet eyes full of nothing but love for the aqua eyed man.

Sora was Riku's first love, he had taught him everything and in the end made him a better person, for that Sora would always hold a place in his heart; but Kairi was his soul mate and as he looked at Haru's smiling face he knew he had found his. Before walking down, he looked back at Sora.

"Thanks."

"For what Riku?" Sora asked in a whisper.

Riku smiled, "For not loving me."

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Ok ok, I'm sure you're all about to kill me about the fact that I wrote like NOTHING about Haru but I can explain! I felt like the main focus of the story wasn't so much about Riku and Sora's separate relationships, but about the amazing bond and friendship they shared. As always, critics are always welcome and quite helpful so please review, this is my first KH one-shot so I need your help now more than ever! 


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